Editorial: Thanks a million - $100 million - for gift to Western Michigan University

Scott Harmsen / Kalamazoo GazetteWestern Michigan University announces a $100 million cash donation to the college's new medical school. Here WMU president John Dunn announces the gift.

Let us never take for granted the generosity of this remarkable community.

And so we say thank you to the benefactors who
gave an anonymous cash gift of $100 million to serve as the foundation
for
a new Western Michigan University medical school that will bring
Borgess Medical Center and Bronson Methodist Hospital together
as partners in the project.

Now we know what the mysterious "Operation: Historic Moment" was all about: At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, WMU President John M. Dunn
announced the remarkable contribution that will help establish the medical school. The donors want to remain anonymous,
but Dunn is hoping one day they will agree to be publicly acknowledged.

Dunn envisions an endowment of between $175 million and $300 million that will create the funding in perpetuity for a private
school of medicine that may welcome its first class of students as early as 2013.

In making the announcement, Dunn made reference to the fact that a shortage of doctors is expected in the not-so-distant future.
That's yet another reason for this project to get under way — and fast.

Once again, the education community is setting the pace.

Tuesday's announcement brought to mind The
Kalamazoo Promise, which was announced in 2005. Through that private,
anonymously
funded program, all Kalamazoo Public School graduates are
guaranteed college scholarships that cover 65 percent to 100 percent
of their tuition for four years at any of the state's public
universities or community colleges.

It's worth noting, too, that the seed money for the medical school concept was a multimillion-dollar gift from an unidentified
donor.

An expert who counsels universities on fundraising told Gazette staff writer Paula Davis that such a gift is extraordinary and
has a massive impact for any institution.

This gift to WMU will have many benefits for the
community at large. Obviously, it will create jobs. But it also will
raise
the bar on educational expectations and attainment. A medical
school will attract young people, who bring ideas and vitality
with them. And it will serve the needs of an aging population.

In fact, it will serve future needs in the community in ways we can only guess. But, at the speed with which this landmark
project is going to roll out, we won't have to guess for long.